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The premises has been allowed to keep its licence but only if it adheres to a set of strict conditions. These are:

All staff must complete CSE and sale of alcohol training to a standard agreed with TVP and RBC

The CCTV must continuously record while the premises is open to the public, and made available to TVP and RBC on request

Challenge 25 should be in operation at all times, and only legitimate ID may be used to sell alcoholic drinks

Staff must record all incidents of refusal to sell alcohol in a log

A log must be maintained of all incidents of crime, disorder and CSE

Bookings and purchases at hotel will require ID from any adult with a child, and staff must take steps to establish the relationship between adults and children. if staff are concerned, they must inform the police immediately.

Hotel bosses refused police training course

These conditions will now supersede a less stringent compromise written by Premier Inn in March 2017 which were drafted after Premier failed both tests for the first time in September 2016.

Hotel bosses accepted CSE training was required, as well as training for the sale of alcohol and cooperation with the police regarding the CCTV system.

Yet they turned down a Hotel Safety Awareness course written by the police, refused police requests for an incident book to record crime at the premises and refused to let the police and council licensing officers view CCTV immediately on request. The chain also failed to adopt the Challenge 25 alcohol policy in place of the Challenge 21 policy.

The police licencing teams were happy to allow the premises to run in that fashion if the premises upheld the licensing objectives and did not fail any further CSE and underage drinking tests.

However, in a police test on Thursday, October 12 this year, the premises failed both tests again.

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In that test, a double room was successfully booked and the 13-year-old girl was able to buy herself a Malibu and Coke.

Furthermore, the staff member who had served the undercover officer and child was adamant they had received no CSE training, despite having worked at the hotel for a year.

The council did have the option to remove the designated premises supervisor Ward Van Gorkum, but PC Simon Wheeler expressed general satisfaction with Mr Van Gorkum's management.

There was confusion over the Challenge 21 and 25 policies. Initially, Mr Van Gorkum enacted Challenge 25 at the hotel, but later adopted the Challenge 21 in line with Premier Inn policy.

It also emerged that changes have already been made at the hotel.

A new sign has been put up at the check in desk saying that adults with children will be asked questions by polite staff on the purpose of their visit as a precaution.

"Raising awareness is vital"

In a statement to getreading, an NSPCC spokesman said: "Child protection is everybody’s responsibility and it entirely right that police carry out operations to test whether different organisations are alert to the signs of abuse or exploitation.

"Organisations that fail these tests should be held to account and make all the necessary changes needed to protect children.

"Raising awareness of the issue of child sexual exploitation is vital if it is to be prevented from taking place."

Adults concerned about a child’s welfare can call the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 and children can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or visit www.childline.org.uk for support.